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Malcolm Kelerchian
Malcolm "Mal" Kelerchian, a main character in StarCraft Ghost: Nova, was a Terran "Wrangler" (telepath hunter) in the Terran Confederacy. He was responsible for the acquisition of Nova by the Terran Dominion. Not Just a Thug Kelerchian was a member of the Tarsonis Police Force, a corrupt institution populated mainly by thugs who protected the interests of the rich and powerful. Any police officer who had at least a modicum of brains generally got promoted to the detective squad, and any good detective was usually snapped up by the government or military to become a spy. Kelerchian easily made it into the squad, and actually used the resources available to the police department to try to solve crimes. For instance, he used Tarsonis City's Traffic Control system to follow the movements of suspects. He had triple the clearance rate of the other detectives, but this wasn't that hard to do. Because of the department's improved clearance rate, it got budget increases from the Council. He fell out of favor with the government when working on the Rample murder case, about a year before the events of StarCraft. Two corpses were discovered in "the Gutter", the poor central part of Tarsonis City, but when identified, they turned out to be the children of a semi-prominent shop owner, which meant there was actual pressure and cooperation in solving the case. The killer, whoever they were, was portrayed as a butcher by the press. Kelerchian later discovered the perpetrator was Emmett Tygore, a member of the Old Families. Suddenly the press was saying that Tygore had crumbled under pressure; he was sent to a rehabilitation facility on Halcyon and quickly forgotten about. Despite the accolades he should have received, the powerful Tygore family made it impossible for him to keep his job. Ghost Wrangler It was during this period that somebody in the Ghost program found within their files on Kelerchian that he had a "Psi Index" rating of 3.5. This was higher than the two or less that most Terrans had but less than the five that telepaths have. This meant he could sense other telepaths and their powers, but couldn't use the powers himself; he made an ideal Wrangler. Snapped up by the military, he was no longer under the thumb of the Old Families. He received six months of training; one in the use of sensor equipment, and five months in a failed attempt to hone his telepathic powers. He still gets a headache in the presence of a telepath. Kelerchian hated his job; it meant he was under the thumb of Ilsa Killiany - she knew he would rather be a detective, but she found him too useful to her Ghost Program to let him go. Six Months of Headaches Kelerchian investigated the terrorist attack on the Terras, an Old Family, as well as the psionic attacks that killed hundreds of people nearby. Happy to be doing detective work again, even if this meant dealing with headache-inducing psychics, his joy was abruptly stifled by Killiany, who ordered him to track down November Terra, whose psychic outburst had killed so many people. The Tarsonic Police Force would deal with the terrorist attacks on the Terras and other Old Families. Kelerchian figured Nova would flee to The Gutter, the exremely poor area of Tarsonis City, in order to get as far away from her former life as possible. Kelerchian started by getting assistance from Larry Fonseca and Sergeant Volmer, police officers who work in the Gutter. Through them, he got access to the traffic control computers in order to search for Nova. Kelerchian spent six months on the case, causing his physical and mental health to slowly break down. The people of the Gutter wouldn't talk to him, Nova hadn't appeared on the traffic control computers, and no telepathically-slain bodies were found. He was called in by an angry Killiany, who (after ranting at him) told him she was summoning the army, in the person of Major Esmerelda Ndoci, a psychopath with a vicious reputation, and her "Annihilators". During the session, he was called by Larry Fonseca with a clue. He was told about "the Blonde", Fagin's new enforcer. During his investigation, Kelerchian had failed many basic principles of detective work and didn't even know who Fagin was. An angry Fonseca told him that Fagin was the Gutter's crime lord and knew the location of his headquarters. "The Blonde" was said to never leave this complex. Kelerchian realized his strategy of asking questions as a Confederacy agent didn't work, not when the people of the Gutter respected Fagin (rather than the government). Together Kelerchian and the Annihilators were to rescue Nova. Fagin had gone mad during the search, and didn't respond to diplomacy or threats. Nova and his chief lieutenanet killed Fagin, but that was when the Annihilators launched their own attack. This brought the building down onto the heads of Kelerchian and Nova. Kelerchian was severely injured. The Emperor's Expectations Kelerchian woke up on a hospital ship, called the Pasteur. He spoke to the medical officer and was told it would be months before he could walk again. He also spoke to Director Kevin Bick, Ilsa Killiany's replacement - Kelerchian didn't recognize him from the Ghost program. What he learned horrified him. Tarsonis had fallen, as he had expected, but to the Zerg rather than the Sons of Korhal. Bick told him that Nova was now training on Ursa and that Killiany was removed from her position since she wouldn't work with the new regime, the Terran Dominion. Mengsk was now the emperor of the new regime, the Terran Dominion, even though Mengsk never once said he wanted power, merely to stop the Confederacy's abuses. Several weeks later, Kelerchian was recuperating on Ursa (he was there as part of the Ghost program). He watched over Nova's training when he was met by Arcturus Mengsk. Mengsk asked to be called "Mr. Emperor" in public; Kelerchian said this was part of Mengsk's public image campaign (democratic leaders are usually referred to by common honorifics such as "mister"). Mengsk agreed with him. Kelerchian told Mengsk that he took so long to find Nova because the people of the Gutter refused to cooperate with a Confederate official (meaning Kelerchian himself). They would rather cooperate with Fagin, whom they respected. The people in charge of the Terran Confederacy, the Council and the Old Families, didn't help the people, so the people didn't help them. When the aliens and Sons of Korhal attacked, the people in charge didn't know what to do and couldn't protect the people they (allegedly) served. Kelerchian also scolded Mengsk for twisting the truth published by the Universal News Network (which he kept, even though it was part of the old Confederate regime). Mengsk said he kept the Ghost program because he knew how effective Ghosts were first-hand (his second-in-command, Sarah Kerrigan, was a Ghost). Kelerchian told Mengsk that because he "acquired" Kerrigan for his cause, trainees had to have their memories wiped when they graduate. Mengsk said that Kerrigan came to him of her own free will; he only took advantage of the Confederacy's inability to guard her properly. (Naturally the mind-wiping regime was not removed from the program.) Some things did change, however; the Ghost program was now run by Director Kevin Bick. When Kelerchian asked Mengsk about the fate of Ilsa Killiany, Mengsk simply told him the same thing that Bick had said, and told Kelerchian that Bick "believed in the program" as much as Killiany did. Kelerchian didn't buy it, however - he said Bick was the sort of person who believed in his superiors. Mengsk wasn't sure if Kelerchian would keep working in the Ghost program. After six months of recuperation, Kelerchian was well enough to walk (although regular gravity was still hard on him). He met Nova for breakfast; this was the closest thing to a successful date he ever had. He told her he was going to the low-gravity Sakrysta Mining Base in order to find a telepath, having been accepted by Mengsk as a Wrangler. Nova learned (through mind-reading) that Mengsk wanted him dead; the mission was extremely dangerous and that Mengsk didn't expect him to come back. In a way, she was saying goodbye to Kelerchian. Personality Kelerchian was an intelligent, hard-working investigator with terrible luck and worse social skills. He showed a nearly complete lack of tact, and his smile was so unnerving he only used it during interrogations. His every attempt to form a relationship with a woman ended in disaster. Allies Larry Fonseca Larry Fonseca is an elderly member of the Tarsonis Police Force, Southwest District division ("the Gutter"); he knew Malcolm Kelerchian from before. He is constantly punished by being assigned to desk jobs because he is immune to corruption and graft - shortly before Kelerchian got in touch with him, he was punished because he refused to act as a bodyguard for a drug shipment, an assignment handed down to him by a police captain. Ilsa Killiany wanted to recruit him for the Ghost Program as an investigator, but he never suffered Kelerchian's bad luck and was able to avoid the program. After six months of investigation, Fonseca told Kelerchian about Fagin and his "Blonde". Kelerchian was upset that he hadn't been told about this before, but Fonseca said this was Kelerchian's fault for forgetting basic principles of detective work. Armed with this knowledge, Kelerchian was able to hunt down Nova. Ilsa Killiany :Main article: Ilsa Killiany Ilsa Killiany, the Director of the Ghost Program, is Malcolm Kelerchian's superior. Sergeant Volmer Sergeant Volmer is a member of the Tarsonis Police Force, Southwest District division ("the Gutter"). His tasks include watching the traffic control system monitors. Unfortunately, his headquarters didn't have the resources to store the information for long, limiting his ability to help Kelerchian's search for Nova. References * DeCandido, Keith R. A. StarCraft: Ghost: Nova. New York: Pocket Star Books/Simon and Schuster, November 2006. ISBN 0-743-47134-2. Kelerchian, Malcolm Kelerchian, Malcolm